In an affidavit to the SC, coal ministry says state governments may own blocks but it has the final say

The coal ministry, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, has said that it has the sole legal right to allocate coal blocks even as the state governments own the blocks and eventually grant the mining leases. In response to the query of the apex court, which questioned the ministry’s authority in this regard, the coal ministry said that though there was no express statutory provision, a combined reading of the Coal Mines Act and a later amendment in the MMDR Act, introducing competitive bidding, gave it the final say in the matter of allocating all major minerals.